Thursday, 26 August 2010

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme has published the first in a series of newsletters that chronicles the progress of solid waste management in the Pacific islands.

This newsletter is an output under the Pacific Regional Solid Waste Management Strategy 2010-2015, which is the region's guiding document for solid waste management. The Regional Strategy, whose implementation is coordinated by the Secretariat, was developed in 2009 with assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The first newsletterbriefly discusses past and upcoming regional solid waste management projects, provides a matrix of regional projects by donor, examines waste management in Tokelau, and provides a summary list of the known solid waste management activities taking place in the Pacific Islands since November 2009.

The newsletteralso provides a summary of lessons learnt during the waste clean-up in the aftermath of the devastating September 29th tsunami in Samoa.

"It is only the first in a series, and it is intended to provide the reader with a snapshot of progress in solid waste management in the region, while also highlighting areas where resources are needed." said Ms. Esther Richards, SPREP's Solid Waste Officer.

"We also hope to feature solid waste management success stories from the islands in each issue in order to promote a regional waste management network among the islands"

The newsletter, which will be published biannually in June and December, is expected to serve as a tool for disseminating the good lessons for solid waste management in the region and for promoting awareness of regional and national waste management needs in the Pacific.

UNFCCC COP 19

The 19th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is held in Warsaw, Poland from 11 to 22 November.

All 14 Pacific island countries are represented at these climate negotiations.

About AOSIS

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is a coalition of small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar development challenges and concerns about the environment, especially their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. It functions primarily as an ad hoc lobby and negotiating voice for small island developing States (SIDS) within the United Nations system.

AOSIS has a membership of 44 States and observers, drawn from all oceans and regions of the world: Africa, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, Pacific and South China Sea. Thirty-seven are members of the United Nations, close to 28 percent of developing countries, and 20 percent of the UN’s total membership. Together, SIDS communities constitute some five percent of the global population.

Member States of AOSIS work together primarily through their New York diplomatic Missions to the United Nations. AOSIS functions on the basis of consultation and consensus. Major policy decisions are taken at ambassadorial-level plenary sessions. The Alliance does not have a formal charter. There is no regular budget, nor a secretariat. With the Permanent Representative of Saint Lucia as its current chairman, AOSIS operates, as it did under previous chairmanships, out of the chairman’s Mission to the United Nations.